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sea, but abducted; and, of course, the refer- ence to 1947, which we all come across during the course of our research. It seems to be a definitive time in ufology. We have pre-1947 and post-1947 as a way to cate- gorise the modern era of sightings. The next page of the file states that 133 countries had already provided reports regarding UFOs for the express purpose of setting up a UN-sponsored committee to study the phenomenon. Jacques Vallee, Stanton Friedman and J. Allen Hynek were also present at this meeting. However, the official reason for Project Moondust was to retrieve downed space vehicles, and what we wanted to know was whether or not Australia participated in this project. I am certain the answer is, "Yes, we did". "Project Moondust". However, as it was a classified US project, perhaps this is not surprising. Under this banner the Australian Government located and retrieved several items of interest, which we have listed on our website. It also means that the military had in place a "quick response unit". In his 1996 document, "UFOs Sub Rosa Down Under — The Australian Military & Government Role in the UFO Controversy", Bill Chalker writes: It appears JIO [Joint Intelligence Organisation] have a "rapid interven - tion" capability, as they have been able to instigate prompt widespread ground searches in suspected "hardware" crashes. They do this through "special access" channels. This operation may be similar to the US activity operating under the code name Project "Moondust". So I think it’s fair to say that Australia did participate in Project Moondust, and did have and still has a "rapid intervention" team connected to the Department of Defence. The reason I am so confident that the rapid intervention team exists is partly due to a number of conversations a member of our AURA team had with a Woomera resi- dent who is retired from the military. He claims to have been a member of this retrieval team, and at the moment we are trying to corroborate his story. From the many retrievals listed, I find one in particular rather interesting. This one was near Inkerman in Queensland in March 1968 and was given to the US Embassy in Australia immediately and without analysis [RAAF file J63/25 5/40/AIR PART 1]. It makes you wonder what was in those diplomatic pouches! Is Woomera Area 52? The next find I'd like to discuss is based on a couple of files from the Department of Supply at Woomera on sightings that occurred between 1952 and 1954. There were literally hundreds of sightings over the years at this highly restricted space facility. In fact, the base servicemen even had their own UFO club, called STARS (Scientific Technical Astronomical Research Society), which they were permitted to set up but with very stringent conditions including being prohibited from publishing any of their UFO reports. In order for you to understand the signifi- cance of the Woomera space facility, its participation in projects on a global scale and the dates I have chosen, here are a few facts and figures. * 1947 - Long Range Weapons Establishment formed between the UK and Australia ¢ 1949 — First missile launched from Woomera Rocket Range; ©1957 — First Skylark rocket launched; ¢ 1958 - First Black Night rocket launched; ¢ 1959 —- The first deep-space tracking station to be established outside the United States is established by NASA at Woomera; * 1962 — Countries from Europe together with Australia formed the European Launcher Development Organisation (ELDO), a collaboration which launched the Europa series of rockets; ©1964 — First Europa rocket launched (a modified Blue Streak rocket); ¢ 1966 — First Europa rocket with dummy stages launched; * 1967 — Australia's very own satellite, WRESAT (Weapons Research Establishment Satellite) launched, mak- ing Australia only the fourth country in the world to launch its own satellite from its own territory. Crash retrieval team The Department of Supply file no. SA 5644/2/1 contains a 1962 memo from the Controller of WRE to the Superintendent at Woomera. In it, he states that "the United States Embassy" sought WRE's assistance to obtain information about sightings or downed fragments of space vehicles. This location and recovery of fragments was exactly the role of the US Air Force's Project Moondust, and the request to Australia was made a year after the project commenced in full force to include UFOs. In our reading of the Supply file, there is never actually a mention of the words INAS A | = | be ? ers — iy NTO FD eee Se AP Ly 3) y “ a The list of launches and research and development programs goes on, but we'll leave this for now. "Our next big mission for 2008 is to send a fully equipped probe Washington to search for signs of intelligent life." 60 = NEXUS www.nexusmagazine.com DECEMBER 2004 — JANUARY 2005